


Slush

by SilyaBeeodess



Series: Tales of the Fire Spirits [11]
Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:54:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25929964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilyaBeeodess/pseuds/SilyaBeeodess
Summary: A young Vanessa and her prince enjoy a stroll through a Subcon winter wonderland only for it to be interrupted by the fire spirits.
Series: Tales of the Fire Spirits [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1613302
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	Slush

The setting sun cast a warm, pink glow over the pure white canvas that made up the forest floor. A fresh snowfall had only just settled hours earlier, with really just their two sets of footprints alone to dot the otherwise smooth path behind them. The barest breeze tickled against the back of his neck, chilling the young man beneath the heavy wool scarf wrapped around him.

Personally, he wasn’t very fond of being out in the cold for too long, but Vanessa always seemed to enjoy a winter stroll. She was beaming, a pep in her step as she walked beside him, her fingers intertwined with his own, humming a soft tune to herself. He didn’t know how she endured it. 

Granted, they always were cold, but even through her gloves, her hands felt like ice. He’d be worried of her catching pneumonia, except not once throughout their young lives had she ever fallen sick thanks to a chill. If anything, summers hit her the hardest, forcing her inside during the hottest parts of the day and making her feint if she were out in the heat for any extended period. Now, at this time of year, she could forget her hat and coat and nevertheless feel perfectly fine. Ever the bitterest of winds couldn’t paint the clear porcelain of her flesh a flushed red. 

As for the prince, he already knew he’d been outside for too long. The muscles in his face were starting to go numb and his nose was stuffed up. Including the time they’d spent wandering the villages and visiting shops, they’d been outside for at least a couple of hours. All he wanted to do was go home and curl up with a good book by the fire. Unfortunately, he wasn’t very good at giving hints and thus couldn’t excuse himself.

Then again, it wasn’t like he really wanted to either. Despite growing up as childhood friends, despite the near inevitability of their match as Subcon’s future rulers, love’s intoxicating buzz was still new and all-consuming. All it took was for her to cast him a pleading glance to convince him to stay out a little while longer. Besides, as they were getting older, each of them had more duties to take on than when they were kids. It was good for them to spend as much of their free time together as they could.

Suddenly, Vanessa pulled his arm close to her chest, hugging up against him. If his face weren’t already coated a lush red from the cold, his embarrassment would’ve been obvious. Although she hadn’t been forceful, he tripped over himself nonetheless at the small gesture. She had to pull him back to keep him balanced. 

“Are you alright, my prince?” she questioned, eyes looking up at him imploringly.

He gave her a soft smile, nodding. She had always used that term of endearment, even when they were children. What had been the doting nickname for a young crush had developed into words of fondness whispered between lovers—although he still felt bashful uttering them himself. He remembered how her face had lit up the first time he called her his princess: It had made her so happy. He brushed her cheek with the back of his free hand.

“I just slipped,” he assured her, “I’m fine.” 

“You klutz!” she giggled, helping him straighten himself back up. She then skipped ahead a step to tug him forward, “Come on! Let’s see if we can make it to the ruins before it gets dark.”

He looked past her, toward the setting sun. The ruins were fairly deep in the woods. “I don’t know, Ness… It’s already getting pretty late. Don’t you think we should turn back soon?” 

Her giggle turned into a pout, “ _Aw_ , what’s the harm in staying out a little late? Especially when I have a knight in shining armor protecting me.” She said these last words with a teasing, pointed jab at his chest.

“It’s not like I’m scared. I’m just worried about our parents what our parents will think,” he replied, “I mean, your mom won’t be happy if I bring you home late, right?”

The giddiness with which she’d been carrying herself swiftly faded as Vanessa momentarily stared at a patch of snow at her feet, eyes hardening a little. “It’s not like it’s _that_ late…” she muttered, before a coy tone returned to her voice, “Don’t you want to be with me for a little longer?” Despite this, her grip on him had tightened: He could feel the shape of her fingers through the double-layer of his sleeve and her grasp on his wrist was so firm that it was hard to move his wrist.

Maybe he shouldn’t have brought up her mom. She was gravely ill, after all, and Vanessa was probably upset enough about it as it was—especially since her father had already passed two years prior. Although he felt she should take as much time as possible to be with her mother, maybe this was her way of coping. She probably needed moments away like this just to clear her head for a while.

What if they hurried…? He really didn’t like the idea of being out this late. Even if there was nothing to fear, their absence could scare their servants enough into forming search parties and only making things worse for everyone. The last thing Vanessa’s mother needed was to worry about the former’s safety. Now that he’d upset her though, he was almost loath to bring that up.

The sound of crunching snow nearby brought the couple to attention. Looking around, they heard it again and soon saw bright lights weaving through the trees. Curious, if already expecting what they’d find, the prince grinned and tugged Vanessa along after the lights with a cry of surprise. _Fire spirits!_ Maybe if she saw something interesting like them it would satisfy her enough to end their adventure for the day.

His lungs burned, but it was only a short search. The two found a small group of the foxes rummaging through what had melted into a bog of glistening slush around them, likely in search of food. They didn’t come out often in the winter, greatly preferring their home of fire and smoke—the borders of which were currently blanketed in a dense fog created by the clash opposing elements. They hated this kind of weather, evident in the way they shuffled and shivered in the wet mush, igniting and reigniting themselves in a small bursts of flames. Determined, however, they continued their hunt through the snow for goodies to burn.

The prince smiled. At times, they made him nervous, but there were a handful that occasionally visited his home for scraps and kept the fires lit in return. A lot of Dwellers had made peace with the foxes in this mutual arrangement. Be it during their ritual dances or simply when they were playing, they were also fascinating to watch. He looked to Vanessa.

Unfortunately, she didn’t share his intrigue. Rather than the bright smile he’d been expecting, he found her glowering at the foxes. Admittedly, he’d fallen under similar glances before, but he’d never seen her with such disdain. “What’s wrong? It’s only the fire spirits. We’re not children. They wouldn’t try to lure us off—especially not together.”

“No, they wouldn’t,” she agreed, if sourly, “They’ve always hated me, even when I was a little girl.” Before he noticed, Vanessa bundled a large fistful of snow in her hands and rolled it into a ball. “Lousy, little pests!”

In one swift motion, she chucked it at one of the spirits. To him, it didn’t seem to fly all that fast, but the fox it struck acted like it hit _hard._ Its head jerked upon impact and its hands flew up in pain as it fell backward with a harsh yip. The trio surrounding it tensed instantly, their hides bristling with sparks in an aggressive way as they snapped their gazes toward the attacker.

“Go find another forest to light on fire, you _beasts!_ ”

If he’d had the chance to check, the prince might’ve seen that the snowball remained mostly intact at the fox’s feet. However, all he really had time to do was push himself in between Vanessa and the spirits meters away as panic took over, arms extended in a silent attempt to pacify the suddenly escalated situation. He gave the young princess a quick, questioning gaze before keeping it on the creatures to ensure they wouldn’t retaliate. By then, the snowball had melted to all but a miniscule piece of ice thanks to the heat from their bodies.

“Easy, easy, _easy now!_ ” he said in a soft, if rushed, voice, “She didn’t mean it—we don’t mean any harm!” He cast another, brief glance at the princess, repeating himself, “We don’t mean any harm…”

To him, it was impossible to tell the foxes apart beyond size and the different colorations of their fur that marked maturity. He didn’t know if any of them were among those that came to his home, but he gave a slight bow nonetheless. It might’ve been a useless motion—given how they only understood so much of human language and behavior—but he thought it might better reflect a submissive stance, keeping his face downward.

Creatures often remembered negatives experiences better than they did positive ones. He didn’t think just one bad experience like this would be enough to incur their wrath, especially after years of good relations, but the prince wanted to ensure those bonds between the spirits and his people. They were all a part of Subcon.

“You don’t have to bow to them,” he heard Vanessa say from behind, “They’re just like wild animals.”

“Sometimes they can be,” he admitted in a calm voice with a nod, not turning to look at her again. The foxes were only just starting to relent, their fur dimming as they quelled their fire. “Which is why we can’t just punish them for anything: They don’t know any better.” Squatting low, he reached into his pocket. “If you want them to like you, Ness, then you need to be patient with them, that’s all.”

The prince pulled out a crumpled scone wrapped in paper, leftovers from elevenses that he’d forgotten in his rush out the door. The practice of getting through to someone through their stomach seemed to hold truest to the fire spirits, their ever-burning cores making them near insatiable eaters. This group seemed fairly young as well—barely coming up to his knees—which usually meant they were all the hungrier.

As expected, they softened at the sight of the treat. Tilting its head and staring at him a second longer, one of the fire spirits crept over to his side and sniffed at the offering held at arm’s length. A bright, thin tongue slipped past its fangs and it gave the scone a ginger lick, steam rising as it burnt the crust. Then it gave an accepting, content warble from its throat, tiny hands reaching for the food as the rest of its kindred scrambled forward—not to miss their share.

All the while, Vanessa kept her distance, remaining at the side of a thick trunk. “It’s easy for you to say,” she mumbled, “You win everyone over. Even the animals.”

“You jest,” he snorted, watching as his scone disappeared within seconds. One of the spirits startled licking the crumbs off of his gloves next. Its tongue had dimmed as it controlled its temperature enough not to burn him. 

One of the others, meanwhile, had shimmied toward his left and a little closer to his side. It stared at him intensely, moving on its tiptoes, and began to sway. It was a funny, soothing motion, and he snorted again in amusement. It took longer for him to realize the fox was only mimicking his own movements—his body swaying as his mind began to falter.

When he was finally alert once more, he found himself lying in his own bed, sick, his mother scolding him for being out in the cold for so long and—after she was gone—Vanessa sneaking a promise from him for them to go for another walk as soon as he was feeling better. 


End file.
